[1553.—"Tanabaré." See under [GALLE, POINT DE].]
DONEY, DHONY, s. In S. India, a small native vessel, properly formed (at least the lower part of it) from a single tree. Tamil tōṉi. Dr. Gundert suggests as the origin Skt. droṇa, 'a wooden vessel.' But it is perhaps connected with the Tamil tonduga, 'to scoop out'; and the word would then be exactly analogous to the Anglo-American 'dug-out.' In the J.R.A.S. vol. i. is a paper by Mr. Edye, formerly H.M.'s Master Shipwright in Ceylon, on the native vessels of South India, and among others he describes the Doni (p. 13), with a drawing to scale. He calls it "a huge vessel of ark-like form, about 70 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 12 feet deep; with a flat bottom or keel part, which at the broadest place is 7 feet; ... the whole equipment of these rude vessels, as well as their construction, is the most coarse and unseaworthy that I have ever seen." From this it would appear that the doney is no longer a 'dug-out,' as the suggested etymology, and Pyrard de Laval's express statement, indicate it to have been originally.
1552.—Castanheda already uses the word as Portuguese: "foy logo cõtra ho tône."—iii. 22.
1553.—"Vasco da Gama having started ... on the following day they were becalmed rather more than a league and a half from Calicut, when there came towards them more than 60 tonés, which are small vessels, crowded with people."—Barros, I. iv., xi.
1561.—The word constantly occurs in this form (toné) in Correa, e.g. vol. i. pt. 1, 403, 502, &c.
[1598.—"... certaine scutes or Skiffes called Tones."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. ii. 56.]
1606.—There is a good description of the vessel in Gouvea, f. 29.
c. 1610.—"Le basteau s'appelloit Donny, c'est à dire oiseau, pource qu'il estoit proviste de voiles."—Pyrard de Laval, i. 65; [Hak. Soc. i. 86].
" "La plupart de leurs vaisseaux sont d'une seule piece, qu'ils appellent Tonny, et les Portugais Almediés ([Almadia])."—Ibid. i. 278; [Hak. Soc. i. 389].
1644.—"They have in this city of Cochin certain boats which they call Tones, in which they navigate the shallow rivers, which have 5 or 6 palms of depth, 15 or 20 cubits in length, and with a broad parana of 5 or 6 palms, so that they build above an upper story called Bayleu, like a little house, thatched with Ola ([Ollah]), and closed at the sides. This contains many passengers, who go to amuse themselves on the rivers, and there are spent in this way many thousands of cruzados."—Bocarro, MS.